Led by No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson of Duke, the ACC had a record six lottery picks and a record-tying 10 first-round selections in the 2019 NBA Draft Thursday evening.
Williamson, taken by the New Orleans Pelicans, is the 11th overall No. 1 pick to play in the ACC and the 12th from a current ACC school. He became the fourth Duke player to be the first overall selection in the NBA Draft. The Blue Devils have had more first overall selections than any other school in NCAA history.
In addition to becoming the first conference to have five of the top 10 picks in the modern era of the draft (since 1966) and six lottery picks, the league’s 10 first-round selections also ties the record for most first-round picks by a conference set by the ACC in 2017.
The ACC also led all conferences with 13 overall selections, followed by the SEC (12), Big Ten (6), Pac-12 (6), Big 12 (4), Mountain West (3), Colonial (2), Ohio Valley (2), West Coast (2), Big East (1) and Ivy League (1).
The ACC is the only conference to have had at least four first-round picks in each of the past 11 NBA Drafts (2009-19). The ACC now has had at least six different schools with at least one player selected in each of the last six drafts.
The ACC extended its streak of having at least one first-round selection to 31 consecutive years (1989-2019).
Over the last six years (2014-19), the ACC leads all conferences with 42 first-round selections, followed by the SEC (29), Pac-12 (25), Big Ten (19), Big 12 (14) and the Big East (8).
The ACC had 10 of the first 23 college players (44 percent) selected in the 2019 draft. Over the past 14 years (2006-19), the ACC has accounted for 21 percent (89 of 424) of all college players selected in the first round.
With six lottery picks, the ACC has had 28 top 14 selections over the last 10 years and since 1996 leads all conferences with 53 lottery selections. The SEC is second with 42, followed by the Big 12 (39), the Big East and Pac-12 (35 each) and the Big Ten (22).
ACC players selected in the 2019 NBA Draft
Round/ Selection, NBA Team
- 1/1 Zion Williamson, Duke, New Orleans Pelicans
- 1/3 RJ Barrett, Duke, New York Knicks
- 1/4 De’Andre Hunter, Virginia, Los Angeles Lakers
- 1/7 Coby White, North Carolina, Chicago Bulls
- 1/10 Cam Reddish, Duke, Atlanta Hawks
- 1/11 Cameron Johnson, North Carolina, Minnesota Timberwolves
- 1/17 Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Virginia Tech, Brooklyn Nets
- 1/24 Ty Jerome, Virginia Philadelphia 76ers
- 1/25 Nassir Little, North Carolina, Portland Trailblazers
- 1/27 Mfiondu Kabengele, Florida State, Brooklyn Nets
- 2/48 Terance Mann, Florida State, Los Angeles Clippers
- 2/55 Kyle Guy, Virginia, New York Knicks
- 2/59 Dewan Hernandez, Miami Toronto Raptors
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